Isa's Story
by bunnyrave1
Summary: A chronicle of Isa's life from when he first meets Lea until the events of Dream Drop Distance. Hints of Lea/Isa and Akusai.
1. First Day

**Chapter 1: First Day**

* * *

1st period history, eight in the morning and he was already yawning. Whoever thought starting school this early was insane. He knew that high school was suppose to be different, but this was the worst change of it all for a night owl like him.

The teacher was droning about the topics that they'd be covering that year; the extensive history of Radiant Garden. Isa was trying very hard to pay attention; he wanted to start this new school year off on the right foot, but he was just too tired to focus.

And then the paper airplane hit.

Isa tried to pry out the plane embedded in his dark blue hair without catching the teacher's attention. Behind him, he heard a boy snickering. Isa slowly turned his head around.

"Sorry dude." A boy with bright red hair said, laughing with his hand cupped over his mouth. Isa inhaled deeply, trying to keep his annoyance in check. Why did these things always have to happen to him?

He quietly freed the plane from his hair and the red-haired boy was still laughing, with the others around him starting to join in softly. Isa didn't see what was so funny, he thought that he left this all behind in middle school. Refusing to let himself be subjected to more years of bullying and laughter, he straightened out the paper plane and threw it back at the redheaded boy, hitting him square in the nose.

"Hey!" The boy exclaimed and Isa smirked. Before he could fully revel in his smugness, he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder.

"Young man, I do not tolerate such activities in my classroom, especially ones against other students." The teacher said sternly.

"But sir, he started it-" Isa started to say, but was interrupted.

"I suggest you stop talking if you don't want a detention on your first day of school. Regardless, I'm writing you a referral, get another one and you WILL stay after."

Isa slumped down in his seat as his history class burst into laughter. So much for starting off with a clean slate.

* * *

Astronomy was the class that Isa had been looking forwards to the most, and at the end of a long and grueling school day, he needed it. Walking into the school's planetarium felt like a breath of fresh air. They received sheets with lists and diagrams of the phases of the moon and the constellations surrounding Radiant Garden. Isa cradled them as if they were his own children, he couldn't wait to go home and add his own notes to the lists. Walking out of that class was exhilarating, he couldn't wait to get to the shops after school and buy a small telescope. Then he was going to spend the night gazing up at the sky, it was a perfect way to end the evening.

"Hey Moonbeam! Been looking for you!" A voice drawled, snapping Isa out of his thoughts. He felt his insides drop. Not here, not today. He was suppose to be free from all of this.

"Going deaf?" The voice called out, sounding a bit closer. Isa stared ahead, not daring to turn around. He wouldn't be stupid enough to pull something in the middle of the crowded halls.

A rough shove on his back told Isa otherwise. He fell to his knees on the linoleum floor, his astronomy notes scattering in front of him.

"It's polite to respond when someone is talking to you, Moonbeam!" The voice said, it was right in Isa's ear now.

"Go away, Nico." Isa muttered, trying to grab his dropped papers without being noticed.

"Now that's hardly nice." Nico said, snatching one of the papers off the ground before Isa could get to it. "I haven't seen you since last year, you could at least be courteous."

"Give that back." Isa said quietly, slowly getting up from the ground.

Nico smirked and shoved him again. "Make me."

Isa said nothing and tried to keep his emotions under control. He wasn't going to allow Nico to get to him, not like he did last year. He was better than that.

"Ooh, is Moonbeam getting mature now?" Nico taunted. "Isn't bothered by me anymore? Well I guess you don't mind if I do this."

With a grin he ripped Isa's astronomy paper in half.

"My paper!" Isa cried as Nico let out a cruel laugh. The people in the hall kept moving, it was as if the two of them were invisible.

Isa felt rage boiling up inside of him. Why was this happening? Why did Nico have to torment him again as if nothing had changed? High school was supposed to be the start of something new, and yet here he was, reliving the hell that was middle school, Nico's laugh echoing around him.

All the things that had went wrong with the day and all the anger and frustration that he felt boiled up inside. Isa did the only rational thing that he could think of.

He stood up and punched Nico in his smug face.

* * *

Detention. His mother was going to kill him.

Isa always had an issue with his temper, it was what made picking on him so fun for Nico. His anger was hilarious to Nico and the others that had bullied him, and he wished nothing more to beat the shit out of each and every one of them until they hurt as much as he did. Today was the first time that he had acted on such a wish and it landed him detention for a month and a meeting with the vice principal.

Isa had never been to detention before, he had always been "the good kid", studious and quiet. He was apprehensive about entering the room, but knew if he didn't that his punishment would be more severe.

He entered the room and sat down in the chair that would be holding him for the next hour and a half. He was alone with his thoughts, trying to think up ways on how he was going to explain this to his parents when he got home.

A paper airplane hit him in his back.

"_Oh great, this again."_ Isa thought. This day just kept getting worse. He wanted to curl into a ball and disappear.

"Psst!" A voice behind him whispered. Isa chose not to respond, he didn't need to get into any more trouble.

Then a poke came. And when he still didn't respond, another one came. And another. And another until he finally couldn't take it.

Isa whipped his head around and angrily whispered, "What?!"

It was the red-haired boy from History class. He looked taken aback at Isa's tone, but then smiled.

"What's up?"

Isa clenched his teeth. He couldn't believe the audacity of this boy. He turned back towards the front of the room and was subjected to another poke.

"Aw c'mon, don't ignore me." The boy whispered. Isa stared hard at the clock. Another poke.

"Hey. Heeey."

Poke. Poke. Poke.

Isa turned his head around and glared at the boy behind him. "Do you mind?!"

Another grin from the boy. "Aren't you just a bright ball of sunshine."

"I'm trying not to get expelled!" Isa snapped.

"Ooh, what did you do? Must have been something bad." The redhead leaned forwards.

"None of your damn business."

"Aw, come on! It's not every day someone gets detention on the first day of school."

"Look who's talking."

"Pft, it's normal for me." Another grin. "So whatcha in for?"

"If I tell you, will you leave me alone?"

"Maybe."

Isa sighed. There was no way he could win here. "I punched a guy in the face."

"Haha! No way! _You!?_"

"And just what is that suppose to mean?" Isa asked. He was getting irritated again.

"You just don't seem like the type." The boy was now leaning back in his chair, his feet propped up on the desk and consequently on Isa's back.

"You don't even know me." Isa said, moving forwards. The boy's feet fell back.

"Alright, then let me get to know you. The name's Lea. L-e-a, got it memorized?"

Isa cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What?" Lea asked.

"Do you normally try and befriend random people?"

"Hey, I like meeting new folks. I want as many people to remember me as possible. Inside their memories I can live forever."

Isa snorted. "Oh _please_."

"What?"

"That is the corniest thing I have ever heard."

"Well it's working. I've become infamous."

"Yeah, that's why I've never heard of you."

"Hey man that hurts." Lea made a sad face. Isa snorted.

"You look so heartbroken."

Lea grinned at him. "So whatcha doing after detention?"

"Well that came out of nowhere." Isa said.

"Just asking a question, no need to get defensive."

Isa looked down. It had been a very long time since someone besides his parents took an interest in what he was doing. "Well I was planning on shopping for a small telescope, but I won't have enough time after detention ends. And I probably won't have any extra time for the rest of my life after I face my mother."

Lea smirked. "Why don't we hang out then, on your last day of freedom for the rest of your life?"

"Okay." Isa said, sounding a little unsure. The last time he had willingly hung out with someone was at Mia Trengrove's birthday party in the 5th grade. Socialization was a little alien to him, but maybe telling his mother that he meet someone new would take a little of her rage away.

Isa and Lea didn't talk again until detention was over.

* * *

"So where do you wanna go?" Lea asked as they left the school. The sun was shifting slowly to the west, giving the streets of the Garden a golden tint.

"I don't know. I usually spend my time sitting alone, and I know that'd be boring for you."

Lea frowned at him. "Don't you have friends?"

Isa inhaled. "No."

"Well you have one now. Don't worry, I'll think of something that we can do." Lea said, looking up and down the street. Suddenly his face lit up. "Aha!"

"What?" Was all Isa managed to get out before Lea tugged on his arm and dragged him up the road.

"Ice cream!" Lea grinned and pulled him up to the little corner stand.

"Ew, isn't this the place that sells that disgusting sea-salt ice cream?" Isa wrinkled his nose. He had seen kids all summer flock around this stand devouring the nasty looking light-blue ice cream.

"Hey, don't diss it until you try." Lea said and walked up to the man behind the counter. "Two sea-salt ice creams please."

He paid for the ice cream. Isa attempted to take a bite but Lea stopped him.

"Let's go sit on the edge of the bridge over there. It's a great place to watch the sun set."

Isa shrugged. "Alright." The two of them made their way over to a red-bricked bridge and sat on the edge. Lea leaned forwards on the railing, watching Isa intensely as he took his first bite of the ice cream.

"Well? How do you like it?"

Isa frowned. "It's salty...yet sweet. What an interesting combination."

"Yeah but do you like it?"

"Yes, you little freak." Isa teased.

Lea smiled. "Told you it was good. Everyone around here loves it. I heard even the King does too."

"Interesting." Isa said. The two boys fell silent and ate their ice cream, watching the sun slowly dip down in the sky.

Lea finished his ice cream first and leaned back a bit on the bridge. "I love watching the sun set. All the reds and oranges, it's so pretty."

"Bet you don't know why the sun sets red." Isa said with his mouth half full of ice cream.

"Nice table manners." Lea smirked. "And no, I don't."

"Well you see," Isa swallowed the last bit of his ice cream, "light is made up of lots of colors. And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest."

"Pft, like I asked, know-it-all." Lea said. "You're so weird."

Isa looked over at Lea,who was now twirling the wooden ice cream stick around with his tongue, and smiled. "Aren't we just the perfect pair of weirdos?"

"Yeah." Lea said, sitting up. "I guess we are."


	2. Friendship

**Chapter 2: Friendship**

* * *

Isa had been grounded for a month, so he and Lea didn't get a chance to spend time together outside of school. Regardless, they still found ways to see each other, Lea had even moved up to the desk next to his in history.

They spent their days eating ice cream on that red-bricked bridge, watching the sun set and joking with each other. It was on such day a few weeks after his punishment had ended, that Isa gained enough courage to finally ask Lea the question that he had been swimming around in his brain.

"Lea...I...uh...um..." Isa started and mentally kicked himself. He had been practicing what he would say for the past few days and now here he was, locking up in the moment.

"Dude just spit it out, I don't bite." Lea said, chomping down on his ice cream.

"Do you uh...want to, I dunno, spend the night?" Isa said with his fists clenched in nervousness.

Lea raised an eyebrow at him and Isa immediately assumed the worst. How could he have been so dumb to hope that maybe Lea would say yes?

"Ha! Was that all? Sure I'd love too!" Lea casually slapped Isa on the back. Isa felt like he was going to choke on his ice cream stick. He was so unused to having friends, so afraid of rejection that he had freaked out over such a mundane question. He made a mental note to himself not to get so worked up with things involving Lea in the future.

* * *

The minute they walked through the door to Isa's home, a high-pitched screech was emitted and a small girl had attached herself to Isa's leg.

"IIIISAAAA!" The girl squealed. Isa grimaced and looked at Lea apologetically.

"And this," he sighed, "is my little sister, Ayla."

Ayla looked up from her brother's leg and stared Lea straight in the eyes. "I don't like you." She said grumpily.

Lea let out a loud laugh as Isa pried Ayla off from his leg. She gave one last look at Lea and then took off running down the hall, yelling for her mother.

"Sorry about the noise." Isa said. "She's five and very excitable."

"Seriously? Your house is dead silent compared to mine with my eight siblings, our pets, and parents." Lea chuckled. "You haven't begun to experience true noise until you've seen my place."

"_Eight_ siblings?!" Isa exclaimed. "I can hardly live with one. I think I'd go insane in your house."

"Aw it's not so bad. The 'rents don't really focus much on us older kids so I can get away with lots." Lea grinned. The two of them made their way into the kitchen where Isa's mothering was cooking supper. She looked up from the stove as they entered.

"Ah," She said, "you must be this Lea I've heard all about."

Lea looked at Isa. "Man, what have you been telling her about me? My whole life story?"

"No." Isa said giving Lea a funny look. "I've just told her general things about you."

"If only you heard the way he carried on about you this past month." Isa's mother shook her head with a smile. "'But mom! I promised my friend Lea I'd met him for ice cream! Mom, you never believed what Lea said today! Mom, its been three weeks, can I please hang out with Lea? You're depriving me of a social life!"

Lea started to laugh. "I see I've had an impact on you, Isa."

Isa's face turned red and he did his best to ignore Lea. "I wasn't like that, you're exaggerating, mother." He glowered.

"Oh don't get so grumpy with me, Isa." His mother said. "I'm just having a little fun with you. It's my job as a mother to embarrass my children."

"Another bullet I get to dodge." Lea said and punched Isa on the shoulder. Isa's face was still red and he desperately tried to think of something to change the subject. He didn't need his mother ruining the single friendship that he had.

"Lets go upstairs, Lea." Isa muttered, grabbing his friend's arm and pulling him away from the table.

* * *

Isa's room was at the end of a small hallway on the second floor. As soon as he opened the door, Lea brushed past him and jumped onto the bed, sprawling out like it was his own room. Isa stood awkwardly by the door.

"Your mother is a nice lady." Lea said, absentmindedly kicking the wall that Isa's bed was pushed up against. Isa hoped that Lea wouldn't leave skid marks.

"Yeah, if you like someone who blabs about you all the time." Isa said and sat in the chair by his desk.

"I think it's funny."

"Yeah, you would. Now let's figure out something to do before you completely destroy my wall."

Lea smiled sheepishly and dropped his sneakers away from the wall. He rolled onto his stomach, then suddenly reached down and grabbed something bronze and slender from the floor.

"Careful with that!" Isa bit his lower lip. "That cost me 5,000 munny!"

Lea let out a low whistle and turned the object around in his hands. "Why'd you pay so much for a hunk of metal?"

"It's not a hunk of metal, it's a telescope." Isa said, standing up. He attempted to snatch the telescope from Lea, but Lea held it above his head ,moving it around every time Isa's hand came close.

"This is a telescope? I thought that these things were like, a million times larger. Pft, what a waste of munny."

"You don't know anything about them, so don't tell me it's a waste. And _don't_ smack it in your hand like that!" Isa pulled on the ends of his hair nervously. Lea was treating the telescope like it was a sword. "Do you want to buy me a new one?"

"Hey! There's an idea!" Lea perked up, gripping the telescope. "Let's go shopping!"

"Wait-what?!" Isa asked, confused. "Where did that come from?"

"From your brain, weren't you listening to yourself? C'mon now, don't be a slowpoke." Lea suddenly stood up and tossed the telescope on the bed, and walked out of the room.

Isa groaned and picked up the object that had cost him months of allowance, and carefully put it away in his drawer. Next time Lea came over, he was hiding all his possessions.

"Isaaaaa! Stop being antisocial or I'm gonna leave you for your sister!" Lea's voice came floating up the stairs and somewhere below him, Ayala giggled.

"You are _impossible_." Isa muttered. A smile formed on his lips.

* * *

Isa stood in the corner with a blank expression and his arms crossed. "This was not what I had in mind when you said you wanted to go shopping."

"Aw you gotta learn to lighten up, Isa. Who doesn't like toys?" Lea said, twirling one of the many colorful tops being displayed.

They were in Walt's, Radiant Garden's hottest toy store, that is, if you were ten. Lea had seen a window display with electronic cars racing along a track and had dragged Isa inside. He didn't understand what was so appealing about a store full of screaming children and annoying music.

Lea had been jumping around from display to display, acting more excited than some of the children present. Isa felt a bit embarrassed, and refused to try out any of the toys. He was working on things to say if someone came up to question him.

"Hey look! Frisbees!" Lea's voice cried over the cacophony of the store, snapping Isa out of his thoughts. Before he could see what Lea had gotten into this time, something plastic hit him in the back of the head.

"Ow! What the-" Isa turned around to see Lea laughing like a maniac, twirling a disc in his hand.

"Really?" Isa said.

"Really." Lea twirled the frisbee around again. "Can I uh, have the other one back? I was thinking about buying it."

"Here, take it." Isa thew the frisbee as hard as he could at Lea. His aim was off and he ended up smacking Lea straight in the face. Normally Isa would be freaking out at the prospect of hurting his one and only friend, but he just let out a loud laugh. He couldn't help it.

Lea quietly picked up the frisbee from the floor and stared at Isa, bits of blood trickling down from his forehead. Isa saw the injury but couldn't stop laughing.

"Shit, Lea, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you're going to be." Lea said, his face breaking into a smile. He tackled Isa and they rolled around on the floor, Isa trying to dodge a flurry of noogies. A loud, "Ahem." stopped the boys in their tracks, and they looked up to see the stern face of the manager standing above them.

"Either buy something or get out of my store." The man said with a stern face. Lea and Isa glanced at each other, still on the floor.

"Should I get them?"

"Definitely."

Lea looked up at the manger and smiled.

"I'll take these frisbees, please."


End file.
